Forum:New skin
Hi! Several months ago, Wikia released a new site skin called Monaco. The new skin features tools which make it much easier for visitors to find content and edit it. You can read all about Monaco here. As you can read on that page, while you will still be able to select Monobook (this wiki's current default skin) as the skin you personally use to view the site (via ), we are no longer able to support Monobook as a default skin for anonymous visitors. So, we need to change the default skin to Monaco. There are a number of pre-built themes for Monaco. Check out how the homepage looks in Sapphire, Jade, Slate, Smoke, Beach, and Brick, and let me know which one you like best. In addition to those pre-built themes, you can build your own custom themes as well. Check out the custom themes on the Shaiya Wiki and the Diablo Wiki. You can learn about customizing the theme, menus and other aspects of Monaco here. Take a look at that information, and let me know which theme you think might work best. I can also help you customize menus or even help create a custom theme if you have an idea that you think would look cool. Just let me know if you have any questions. Thanks! --KyleH (talk) 23:01, 28 October 2008 (UTC) :I personally opposed the requirement of this skin from the beginning (June). Elassint, 10 28 2008 talk ::Unfortuantely, it's a change that we need to make, so I'm afraid that I'm not here to discuss the merits of Monaco vs. Monobook, but rather to make the change as easy as possible. --KyleH (talk) 23:14, 28 October 2008 (UTC) :::When is this change going to happen? ::::We would like to make the change on Friday the 31st, but that date is a a bit flexible if there are specific things that you need help with which may take a little longer. --KyleH (talk) 23:39, 28 October 2008 (UTC) :::::You are forcing this onto us. Users who are used to Wikipedia are less likely to stay here with the unfamiliar skin. Finding your own contributions is more difficult with Monarco. You need to click twice. I started withFiction Wiki before Liberapedia moved. It took me about a week to work out how to find my contributions. I stayed with Fiction Wikia because I badly needed a home for my science fiction story. With Monaco as the default some users may leave just because they don't like the unfamiliar skin. Once the new skin has been imposed do you plan to impose all those nasty advertisements trying to convert us to Christianity, Scientology etc? There were here before. I was pleased when they disapeared but feared the change could be temporary. I suppose you feel one controversial imposition is enough at one time. Uncyclopedia is having trouble just now as well. Why? Proxima Centauri 07:32, 29 October 2008 (UTC) ::::::I realize that it is a difficult change to get used to, which is why we continue to allow you to select Monobook as your default skin in your own personal preferences. Additionally, we have disabled all ads for logged-in users who use Monaco. If you see any questionable ads, please report them using the procedure outlined here. We try to keep objectionable ads off of the site; however, sometimes a few ones sneak by. Our reasons for making the change are outlined here. ::::::So, as I asked before, how can I help make the transition easier? Which Monaco skin would you prefer? Would you like some help populating the sidebar menus or customizing other aspects of Monaco? --KyleH (talk) 17:32, 29 October 2008 (UTC) :Well I suppose that's up to me, and just for the record I am opposed to this, I think Sapphire is the most appropriate. Where did the Geography link on the side bar come from? Ajuk 20:33, 29 October 2008 (UTC) ::By default, it chooses the two largest categories and displays them at the bottom. We can adjust that to the categories of your choice, or completely rework the menu items to display specifically the links that you want. --KyleH (talk) 20:45, 29 October 2008 (UTC) Oh wonderful, first there was creating the damn skin (and burning our eyes out with it) and now FORCING it upon us. How original. There's nothing you can do to convice is New Monaco is worth having as a default skin, unless you convince us it can cease to exist. --Ryan 21:42, 29 October 2008 (UTC) Sapphire looks good. Unfortunately for British users and other users outside the United States blue is the colour of the Conservatives. Therefore I don't think Sapphire or Beach are good for a Liberal or Social Democrat wiki. Brick looks good to me. It's the colour of that special star. Proxima Centauri. Other users won't think Proxima Centauri is special. Further in the United States red is the colour of the Republican Party. Jade gives a good political message. Liberals and Social Democrats worldwide are environmentalists. Even then I thought, "This looks more like a gardening wiki than a political wiki." Perhaps we need a custom colour that's a less dominant shade of green, a less depressing shade of grey (That's the slate skin) or a less fiery Republican? shade of yellow, (The smoke skin). Consider green. Proxima Centauri 14:57, 30 October 2008 (UTC) :Keep in mind that you don't have to choose one of the pre-built skins. If you can think of an appropriate (neutral?) color scheme other than the defaults available, I'll be happy to help you apply it. --KyleH (talk) 17:40, 30 October 2008 (UTC) ::That's good because I don't like any of the pre-built themes except Sapphire, and "for British users and other users outside the United States blue is the colour of the Conservatives" Elassint, 10 30 2008 talk And why do you need to make this change to Monaco? Elassint, 10 31 2008 talk :The reasons are explained here. If you have any questions that are not answered there, please let me know. --KyleH (talk) 17:51, 31 October 2008 (UTC) I note you have an advertisement for Oxfam in the Main Page. Since we need advertisements I personally feel that one is just right for Liberapedia. Perhaps you can find advertisements for American organisations that do similar work to Oxfam. Proxima Centauri 19:09, 31 October 2008 (UTC) :::How do I change the skin, can't seem to find a settings page from the special pages. Ajuk 18:52, 11 November 2008 (UTC) :::Right if nobody tells me everybody gets blocked Mwahahahahaha!! Ajuk 12:21, 12 November 2008 (UTC) What next? Heya ... I'm just dropping by again to see how I can help. I'll be happy to help make a custom color scheme for you, but the catch is that we need to change to a Monaco skin by Wednesday, November 5th. Do you have any ideas as to what color scheme might work best? --KyleH (talk) 23:47, 31 October 2008 (UTC) Liberals worldwide are environmentalists. Therefore I expect all liberals will feel positive about green. The trouble is that Liberapedia users are more concerned about other political issues than the environment. American liberals feel positive about blue because that is the colour of the Democratic Party. British social democrats feel negative about blue because that is the colour of the Conservative Party. We need something where green is present but doesn't dominate. We should not suggest the American Republican Party (red). Proxima Centauri 10:32, 1 November 2008 (UTC) I'm female. Advertisers know that women frequently prefer vibrant colours. Men like vibrant colours less often. Most Internet users are men. Sorry. We need colours that men like. Proxima Centauri 11:14, 1 November 2008 (UTC) I'm sure we can get used to Monarcho. The trouble is new users may leave before they have got used to it. Proxima Centauri 14:23, 1 November 2008 (UTC) I've changed the default to Jade. I did it under protest. Do the other admins prefer a different one? Proxima Centauri 16:00, 1 November 2008 (UTC) Can we get a colour that's a bit lighter and more brownish or yellowish or greyish than Jade? Perhaps you could show us a few samples. I've changed my preference to jade and used the random page a few times to see what jade is like. I like it on the main page but I feel the green is a bit dominant on the smaller pages. The brick scheme has two colours. Can we have green with something orangish or brownish to offset it. Proxima Centauri 10:20, 1 November 2008 (UTC) Do the others object to green? Proxima Centauri 13:36, 2 November 2008 (UTC) :Hi! So, I was thinking about your request for something with green and brown, and I realized that we already have a really nice green and brown theme set up for Wikia Green. I have imported it here, and you can see what it looks like by clicking on the sample here. What do you think about that? --KyleH (talk) 00:19, 6 November 2008 (UTC) I like it. I don't know how to set it.Proxima Centauri 07:03, 6 November 2008 (UTC) :It's listed on the skin tab of under Monaco -> Custom. The wiki was actually set on Monaco Custom when I installed the demo skin, but because it was previously empty, Sapphire showed up. I went ahead and set it back to Custom for you. Let me know if there are any other ways in which I can help. --KyleH (talk) 23:47, 6 November 2008 (UTC) ::That shade of green+that shade of tan seems to look like the colors of the US Military. Elassint, 11 7 2008 talk :::I'm British. I didn't know that. We need a skin that makes liberal Americans like Elassint feel confortable. Proxima Centauri 07:00, 7 November 2008 (UTC) ::::I understand, although I think that most shades of brown and green that would work well in a skin would still invoke military connotations. How about this: take a look at the color chart here and find a color or two or three that you would like to appear in the skin, and I'll put something together for you. --KyleH (talk) 23:33, 7 November 2008 (UTC) I've looked at the colours you suggested. I can't do much with the list. I’ve got a laptop and colours look different depending on the angle of the screen. The problem with the present colours is that they are close to American military colours. I’m British and I’m not sure what American military colours are. I’ll try and look at these colours again. Can you suggest anything that looks similar to what we've got but is more different from American military colours. Liberapedia has been active this weekend. I suspect that is because Barack Obama won the election. Being on the winning side helps. Proxima Centauri 19:18, 9 November 2008 (UTC) I’ve got a small problem. I personally like the brick colour scheme. To me as a European the reddish colour scheme suggests realistic Social Democrat values. In Europe unrealistic socialists and communists choose a more communist red. As I’ve said many times I don’t want to impose brick onto Americans as it’s close to colours of the American Republican party. At the moment I’m changing my preferences several times a day. When I’m logged into Fiction Wiki I prefer the colour scheme the admins developed there. I feel it would be really good if there were a green and brown colour scheme that’s available for users who haven’t logged in or who haven’t chosen a preference. At the same time if users prefer a different colour scheme I don’t want them to have to change their preferences to get the colour scheme they like. Monobook was like that. In particular I want Americans to be able to choose sapphire easily. For them that’s close to the colour of the Democratic Party. Proxima Centauri 19:39, 9 November 2008 (UTC) What I think #Sapphire would be perfect, but its the color of conservatives in Europe, and this wiki is not all American. #Jade clashes with our red logo. #I don't like Slate's pencil grey backround #Smoke looks good, but I don't know if yellow is the color of any political party anywhere. #Beach is wrong for Liberapedia, the blue background clashes badly with our red logo. #The shade of red in Brick is to dark #Gaming looks cool, but Liberapedia is a political wiki --Elassint 03:18, 14 November 2008 (UTC)